VUIToolkit
VUIToolkit is a set of widget prototypes implemented in both VRML97 and X3D versions. It makes possible to map interface elements described at the CUI (Concrete User Interface) level of UsiXML and those that have been included in the toolkit to allow the generation of a FUI (Final User Interface) in a VRML97 or X3D-based 3D environment.
One of the remarkable characteristics of this toolkit is that it transforms the standard plain 2D widgets into a truly 3D representation. In contrast to other approaches that are based on using the 2D graphics output of applications as image textures in the 3D virtual world, every widget of the VUIToolkit has real depth, they do not exhibit their behaviour within the two dimensions of a plane but the three dimensions of the space. This implementation of the widgets is aimed to match much better the mental model of the user. For example, if the user presses a button, it moves along the third dimension as the user would expect, instead of showing a predefined sequence of images that simulates that movements with 2D drawings. To state that difference, we use the term Virtualized User Interface (VUI) to refer to a 3D UI.
The implementation of this toolkit has been based on the prototyping mechanism which is available in both Web3D languages, and also on some of the ideas expressed by the VRML Widget Working Group. This way, for each final widget it has been created a VRML97 and an X3D prototype which are both composed of: an interface based on a set of fields?for setting initial values and also send and receive events-, shapes that represent the appearance and geometry of the widget ?customizable through the prototype interface-, the sensors that make possible the interaction between the user and the geometry, internal logic that keep the state of the widget and control the behaviour of it depending on its state, and a set of routes that set up links among shapes, sensors and logic.
VUIToolkit is a UsiXML-based toolkit, meaining that the list of parameters of each widget prototype was first made including the attributes of its corresponding UsiXML class, then adding new attributes as needed for transforming the concrete interface object ?independent of any toolkit- into a final user interface object rendered in a 3D virtual world. Most important, the interactive graphics interface specified using UsiXML language can, therefore, be transformed into a VRML97/X3D virtual world in an automated way, just making use of the set of prototypes provided in the VUIToolkit.
Screenshots
Author
José Pascual Molina Masso
Publications
- Vanderdonckt, J., Mendonça, H., Molina Massó, J.P., Distributed User Interfaces in Ambient Environment, Proc. of AmI-07 Workshop on “Model Driven Software Engineering for Ambient Intelligence Applications” MDA-AMI’07 (Darmstadt, November 7-10, 2007), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2007, pp. 44-52.
- Víctor López Jaquero, Montero, F., Molina, J.P., González, P., Interfaces de Usuario Inteligentes: Pasado, Presente y Futuro, Proc. of VII Congreso Internacional Interaccion Persona-Ordenador Interaccion'2006 (Puertallano, 13-17 November 2006), M.A. Redondo Duque, C.B. Santos, M.O. Cantero (eds.), Asociación Interacción Persona-Ordenador (AIPO), 2006, pp. 395-404. . The slides are also available:
- Molina, J.P., Vanderdonckt, J., González, P., Fernández-Caballero, A., Lozano, M.D., Rapid Prototying of Distributed User Interfaces, Proc. of 6th Int. Conf. on Computer-Aided Design of User Interfaces CADUI'2006 (Bucharest, 6-8 June 2006), Chapter 12, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2006, pp. 151-166.
- Molina, J.P., García, A.S., Martínez, D., Manjavacas, F.J., Blasco, V., González, P., An Interaction Model for the TRES-D Framework, Proc. of IEEE Mediterranean Electrotechnical Conference MELECON'2006 (Malaga, 16-19 May 2006), IEEE Computer Society Press, 2006, pp. 457- 461.
- Molina, J.P., Vanderdonckt, J., González, P., Direct manipulation of User Interfaces for Migration, Proc. of 10th ACM Int. Conf. on Intelligent User Interfaces IUI'2006 (Sydney, 29 January-1 February, 2006), ACM Press, New York, 2006, pp. 140-147.
- Víctor López Jaquero, V., Montero, F., Molina, J.P., González, P., Fernández-Caballero, A., A Multi-Agent System Architecture for the Adaptation of User Interfaces, Proc. of 4th International Central and Eastern European Conference on Multi-Agent Systems CEEMAS'2005 (Budapest, 15-17 September 2005), "Multi-Agents Systems and Applications IV", Pechoucek, M., Petta, P., Zsolt Varga, L. (eds.), Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 3690, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2005, pp. 583-586.
- Molina, J.P., Vanderdonckt, J., Montero, F., González, P., Towards Virtualization of User Interfaces based on UsiXML, Proc. of Web3D 2005 Symposium, 10th International Conference on 3D Web Technology (Bangor, 29 March-1 April 2005), ACM Press, New York, 2005, pp. 169-178. The slides are also available .
